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What’s your Big Idea? Here’s what some of you are telling the Star: Hume

Our year-long Big Idea project wants to hear your proposals for making the GTA a better place to live.

The Toronto Star is asking GTA residents: What's your Big Idea for improving life in the region? Your ideas may help spur the discussion as we head into a big election year. (CHRIS YOUNG / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Toronto is an idea whose time has come. Since the Star launched its year-long Big Ideas project on Jan. 1, readers by the score have sent suggestions, proposals, plans and schemes they hope will make the city a better place.

But things won’t really get going until Feb. 1. Starting then, you can go to thestar.com/bigideas to submit your ideas for key issues in the GTA.

There’s also a Twitter hashtag, #starbigideas, you can use to reach us with your proposals.

We will be creating a special email address at the beginning of February to which you can send your ideas. We’ve received many emails already and will add them to the collection at thestar.com in February.

So don’t worry, your ideas are safe with us.

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In addition, we’ll devote the entire month of February to a daily idea piece written by a wide selection of residents and experts, to hear their suggestions about how Toronto can once again become the city that works.

We want to keep the ideas flowing until fall and beyond. They can be big or small, local or global, it doesn’t matter; we’d like to hear them all. Eventually, we will compile a list of the 10 best ideas, but we’re casting the net as wide as possible.

In other words, don’t be shy.

Here’s a sampling of what we’ve received so far, in no particular order:

June Mewhort, Woodville: “What about a Greater Toronto Improvement (or Future) Lottery? It worked for the Olympics years ago. How about having a few major concerts where the stars come for a “charity” event for Toronto's Future ... as in Drake, who says he loves this city. The point is, people need to give to the fund WILLINGLY.”

Connie Evanoff: “In 1971 Bhutan — a small state in south Asia — started rejecting the GDP (gross domestic product, a measure of economic success). Instead they have been measuring the success of their state on Happiness. Bhutan measures its prosperity and growth by GNH — gross national happiness — and the spiritual, physical, social, environmental health of its citizens and natural environment. I believe Toronto can turn around if we make GNH our central concern. It is a foundation that everyone can unite and build upon. If we do this everything else will fall into place.”

Lucy, Etobicoke: “I realize the GO service is great for commuters to and from the city, as far as Hamilton and Oshawa, but what about the commuters from Niagara, St. Catharines, and to the east of Toronto? Has there been talk of a passenger ferry from, say, Grimsby, Niagara-on-the-Lake, or St. Catharines to Toronto?”

Ed. K. McLellan, Peterborough: “Toronto has the most costly and hazardous waste management system in Ontario. The problem extends to Queen’s Park, where the energy and environmental experts still have not “got the message.” The idea here is to encourage the leaders of Toronto to see Energy from Waste as the low cost, environmentally clean cornerstone of a modern waste management system. Modern integrated waste management merits consideration as an important “idea” for your project.”

Dr. Robin Alter, Toronto: “In order to get back to the city that works, we need to “de-amalgamate.” It makes me furious when Ford Nation talks about the lack of democracy in city council because the mayor is no longer able to function as the mayor. The (Mike) Harris government went ahead and amalgamated the city against our collective democratic voices. The Harris government also imposed amalgamation on several hospitals in the city — Women’s College and Sunnybrook to name just two. They found a way to de-merge and got a civil divorce.”

Robert Greenwood, Stouffville:“The only mandate a politician has is to get re-elected. This means that no effort is made to look even five years ahead … . What has to happen is to remove politics and partisanship from critically important decisions like transit and infrastructure renewal … . This requires the appointing of a panel that consists of experts … who will be given a 5- to 10-year mandate GUARANTEED. Their appointment must be agreed upon by all parties so that they are at arm’s length, and no change in government can demand or pressure their resignation. Their decisions must be considered binding.”

Gordon Becker: “I have lived in cities in Europe and Australia and New Zealand. The best and most liveable places all had regular, every-day shopping for groceries etc. within walking distance of just about every residence. I am not talking about little convenience stores with a few canned goods and lots of smokes, but about real greengrocers, butchers, bakers and maybe even candlestick makers. Toronto could have new zoning laws that would set aside a certain number of retail spaces dedicated to this type of business, or at least get rid of any restrictions on these businesses.”

Tim Stuart: “Basically, one way to improve Toronto is to have more volunteering going on. It does not cost governments anything, but if people gave more of their time, life in Toronto ... especially for the less fortunate would be greatly improved.”

Debbie: “I wanted to suggest that we make Toronto the best city possible by Putting Food First in Toronto. There are the obvious opportunities to fix street food, to add community gardens and urban farms to schools and parks, to prioritize healthy local food at all city-run arenas, schools, hospitals, day care centres, senior facilities, to increasingly celebrate the diversity of our neighbourhoods through food festivals.”

Malcolm Cross: “I think we should follow the lead of Denmark, UK etc. and maybe go one step further as an initially small experiment in transportation. I would like to see the downtown area of Toronto closed to all vehicular daytime traffic … . Van and truck deliveries would be performed at night and stopped at 5 a.m.”

Bob Whalen: “My Big Idea for Toronto is laneway houses. I live in an 1890 rowhouse with a laneway that has a garage. I HAVE to use it as a garage according to City building code. No heat or plumbing allowed. It has to be a house for a car.”

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